Apology Accepted
by HedwigBlack
Summary: Parvati makes Ron feel guilty about not dancing with Padma at the Yule Ball. For the Hogwarts Games


**This is for the Hogwarts Games: Women's Football. My pairing was Ron/Padma**

**Also for the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp Challenge with the prompt: purple**

**And the Character Diversity Boot Camp Challenge with the prompt: dance**

* * *

Ron came downstairs from the boys' dormitory and plopped down on the couch in front of the fireplace. He attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes and waited for Hermione and Harry to finish getting ready for breakfast, but was having a difficult time resisting the urge to fall back to sleep. A flash of color crossed his line of vision and he looked up to see a girl with flowing black hair and a bright purple dress glaring down at him.

"Hey, Padma…" Ron mumbled.

The girl tapped her foot in annoyance and raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not Padma, you prat!"

He sat up a little straighter and the reality hit him that of course, the girl wasn't Padma. Padma was a Ravenclaw. The twin that looked as though she were about to kill him was Parvati.

"Why would you think I was Padma, hmm? Feeling a little guilty, are we?" she asked.

"Guilty?" Ron repeated, his face beginning to go red. "_You two_ were the ones who ditched us for some Beauxbatons blokes."

"Because you ignored us all night! She wasn't about to sit around on the sidelines just because you wanted to stare at Hermione."

Ron nearly fell out of his seat at that remark. He hadn't been staring at Hermione! He was sick of explaining himself. He'd been angry at seeing her with Krum. He was on the opposing side for Merlin's sake…

Parvati interrupted his musings by lowering her voice dangerously. "Apologize to Padma."

"I…"

"Do it!"

Ron had never been on the receiving end of Parvati's wrath, but he did not like the prospect of what would happen if he did not do as she asked. He nodded mutely and as soon as Harry made his appearance dragged him through the portrait hole.

"What's with you?" Harry asked.

"Parvati's mad that we didn't dance with her and Padma at the ball."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

Ron ate his breakfast in silence and when he was finished sat at the Gryffindor table and kept his eyes fixed on the back of Padma's head. He really didn't want to apologize to her. It's not as though it had been a big deal. Who really likes to dance anyway? But he could feel Parvati's penetrating stare from a few seats down and he knew that there was no way he could go back to the common room without having made an effort to feel bad about it.

Padma rose from her seat and started to move towards the door. He sighed, and went to follow her. She was already near the top of the first set of stairs when he called out to her. "Hey, Padma!"

She turned and upon seeing him, merely rolled her eyes and continued her ascent. Ron groaned in frustration and took the stairs two at a time until he had caught up with her in the corridor.

"Padma, listen…" he began.

She whirled around and stood with her arms crossed and while he'd be the first to admit that girls were a mystery to him, he could tell that unlike Parvati, she wasn't angry with him. Instead she was rather hurt and it was plain by the look in her eyes. Why did girls have to be so emotional?

He gently put a hand on her shoulder and led her into a nearby classroom. She leaned against the desk, still hugging herself.

"I'm sorry," he said, and despite his earlier resolve to not be sorry at all, he found that he was. She set her jaw and waited for him to elaborate. It seemed he wasn't about to get off that easy, but she was less vocal than Parvati was about her displeasure which made it easier for him to continue. "I should have paid more attention to you last night and I'm sorry I sat around and ignored you."

Thankfully, Padma's expression softened and he could breathe a little easier. He was struck with a sudden idea. He tentatively held out his hand to her. "I guess I owe you a dance…"

She raised her eyebrows in surprise and a shadow of a smile spread across her face. "Here?"

He shrugged. "As good a place as any."

She took a step forward and took his hand. "There's no music."

"I never liked the Weird Sisters anyway," he said.

They started to sway awkwardly in the middle of the empty classroom and Ron took special care not to step on her feet. Padma cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "I never really liked them either, now that you mention it." She rested her chin on his shoulder. "Apology accepted," she said quietly.

Ron sighed in contentment. Lately it seemed that he'd been making an arse of himself every time he turned around. It seemed he'd made a habit of hurting people whether he meant to or not. Hearing that she'd forgiven him was a small victory but in that moment it didn't matter and he smiled to himself, satisfied that for once, he'd done something right.


End file.
